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settled in Marshall County. He did very well there, but conceiving that he could do still better in Nebraska, the 1st of March, 1885, found him in this State, accompanied by his wife and children. He purchased his present farm of eighty acres on section 27. This is well improved, and is amply provided with all the necessary farm buildings. including a commodious house, stable. etc., and everything about the place indicates the master hand of a thrifty, practical, methodical man. Mr. Phillips is making a great success in his stock-raising ventures. He keeps several brood mares, and his thoroughbred Norman-Percheron stallion and Clydesdale stallion are the finest in the township. He also makes a specialty of raising mules, and has a fine jack and ass. Although Mr. Phillips has been a resident of Paddock Township but little more than three years, yet he has gained the confidence and esteem of the entire community, and by his genial and ever courteous manner he has won many warm friends. His ability and business tact have received due recognition at their hands, as they elected him to the office of Justice of the Peace for this township in the fall of 1887, despite his reiterated protests at having the office thrust upon him, as it were. He still holds the position, and is discharging its duties with fairness and to the entire satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. He takes an intelligent interest in politics, and uses his influence in an honorable way to promote the interests of the Republican party.
Our subject is of staunch Pennsylvania stock, his father, Thomas Craig, having been born in Northampton (now Carbon) County, that State, in 1797. The latter upon reaching manhood engaged in farming for a time, and later for nearly a quarter-century occupied himself as a hotel-keeper successfully at Lehigh Water Gap, and operated a large store of general merchandise at the same place. He was also owner of the stage line running between Mauch Chunk and Elston, from which he derived a handsome income. In addition to this he was extensively engaged in boating or transporting lumber from his mills on the Upper Lehigh over the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's canal to Easton, Mauch Chunk and other points, having his own boat and making considerable money in this enterprise. He had three sawmills and owned an immense tract of timber land. During the memorable freshet of 1841 he lost heavily in boats and lumber, and his entire store and contents were swept away. He continued as a hotelkeeper until within about four years of his death. The father of our subject was married in early manhood to Miss Kuntz. who died young, leaving two children. Subsequently, in 1828, he was married to Miss Catherine Hagenbuch and they became the parents of six children, five of whom lived to mature years. He died in 1859, at Lehigh Water Gap, where he had his home for so many years. Mrs. Catherine Craig, the mother of our subject, also a native of the Keystone State, was a daughter of a hotel-keeper at Lehighton, where he spent many years of his life, and where he entered upon his final rest. Mrs. Craig remained with her parents until her marriage, and survived her husband twelve years, her death taking place at Lehigh Gap, in 1871. The father of our subject was reared a Presbyterian, and the mother a Lutheran, and the former was especially prominent and active in all those matters pertaining to moral and religious education. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Thomas Craig, Sr., a native of Northampton County, Pa., served as a General in the Revolutionary War, and after the independence of the Colonies had been established, returned to his native place, where he engaged in farming, and lived to the ripe old age of ninety years. He was the father of six children. The subject of this sketch was born at Lehigh Gap, Pa., April 22, 1841. His primary studies were conducted in the schools of his native village. |
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ILLIAM CRAIG, Mayor of Blue Springs, and largely identified with its business affairs, represents considerable real estate in which he is largely interested, the greater portion being city property. He is also conducting a flourishing stove and hardware business, and as a man and a citizen ranks among the most highly respected residents of this county, and we are pleased to present his portrait on the opposite page.
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Later he became a student at Allentown Seminary, and completed his education in the Agricultural College in Center County, Pa. He then began teaching, but subsequently, in company with his brother. Col. John Craig, embarked in general, merchandising at Lehigh Gap, to which he added the business of boat-builder and railroad contractor. These interests he operated extensively and successfully, and also dealt largely in lumber, railroad ties and coal at the same place, where he continued to live until the fall of 1882. Socially and politically. He was prominent in the county and community; and in fact the entire family was widely and favorably known throughout that region as comprising a portion of its best element. Three of his brothers were in the Pennsylvania Legislature, and two were also elected to the State Senate. Mr. Craig in 1882 disposed of his interests in the Keystone State, and coming west into Southern Nebraska located at once in Blue Springs, this county, establishing himself in his present business. Each year has added to his stock and his patronage, so that his present business building, of which he is owner, is entirely too contracted for the wants of his trade, and a more capacious building will be a necessity in the near future. His promptness and reliability in his business transactions have made him a general favorite with the men of his community, while socially, together with his family, he occupies an enviable position. He takes a warm interest in the building up of the town, and does whatever lies in his power to further its moral and educational interests. He cast his first Presidential vote for McClellan, but soon changed his politics and sustained the Republican party until 1880, when his strong temperance proclivities led him to give his support to the Prohibitionists, and he voted for Neal Dow for President. He has been a member of the School Board almost from the time of coming here, and was elected to his present position of Mayor in the spring of 1888. The fact that the Republicans lead in this locality speaks well for his standing in the community. Religiously, he belongs to the Evangelical Association, and is an energetic laborer in the Sunday-school. Mr. Craig was married, Sept. 26, 1867, to Miss Mattie E. Gish, of Berlinsville, Pa., and they are now the parents of five children, viz: Annie E., William A.. Frederick G., Jesse V. and Mattie F. They are all living at home with their parents, and being given the training and education which will qualify them for useful and worthy members of society. Mrs. Craig was born Jan. 29, 1844, in Berlinsvtlle, Northampton Co., Pa., and is the daughter of Abram and Elizabeth (Hummel) Gish, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and are now deceased. Her father was a man of prominence, a farmer and merchant combined, and officiated as a Justice of the Peace for many years. He was a member of the Evangelical Church, and departed this life at his home in Berlinsville in 1878. His excellent wife was a member of the same church, and departed this life in June, 1884. During the six years' residence of Mr. Craig in this county he has fully established himself in the esteem and confidence of the people about him. He was nominated by the Prohibition convention of 1888 as candidate for Senator, an indication of the estimation in which he is held, and a great compliment to his worth and nobility.
Previous to his arrival in Nebraska our subject lived in Delaware County, Iowa, where he had made his home for eighteen years. He was born in that greatest city of the world, London, England, on the 8th of January, 1847; his father, James Richardson, was a full-blooded Scotchman, and was |
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ENRY
RICHARDSON. Perseverance and industry are necessary conditions to true success
in any calling. These qualities are possessed in an eminent degree by the subject
of this sketch, a thrifty and prosperous farmer and stock-raiser on section
15 of Grant Township, and owner of a very fine farming property of 160 acres
(a partial view of which may be seen upon another page), through which the
Soap Creek winds its way, and which Mr. Richardson secured soon after coming
to the county in October, 1867. The previous owner was the venerated and beloved "Uncle
Sam," who has made generous provision for thousands of his sons, and stands
ready to assist thousands more.
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born and brought up near the city of Glasgow, upon the Clyde, removing from his Scotch home to London when about thirty years of age. After leaving school he had served a full apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner, which trade he continued to follow in London, and was looked upon as a very excellent, precise and artistic workman. Shortly after his removal to the great city he was united in marriage with Eliza Timmins, a lady of English birth and parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, Sr., became the parents of seven children, of whom our subject was the eldest. Accompanied by two of these they came to the United States, and settled at once in Chicago, where the father found employment in the carshops, in the department where the more finished and skilled work was demanded. There he continued for a number of years, and finally moved with his family to Delaware County, Iowa, locating upon a farm upon which they are yet living. The father is now about seventy-five years of age, and the mother is seventy-seven. Both enjoy excellent health, and retain their natural faculties in a remarkable degree. They come of families noted for longevity. Grandfather Richardson, who lived and died in Scotland, survived over ninety years, and the prospect, so far as it is possible to judge by appearances, is that both Mr. and Mrs. Richardson will, in all probability, likewise live to a ripe old age. Our subject received his education in the schools of Delaware County, Iowa, and after leaving his studies he devoted his attention to farming. Upon coming to Nebraska he found a great deal of hard work before him, but his father had wisely inured him for just such a life, and he was not altogether unfitted to fill the position. The success that has attended his efforts, the improvements that he has made upon his land, and the reputation he has established, all testify to the fact of his enthusiastic devotion to his work. Having provided his house our subject early realized that some one was needed to make it a home, and such a one he found in Miss Julia F. Burgess, to whom he was married in Grant Township, Oct. 13, 1870. The wife of our subject is the daughter of N. E. and Sophia (Woodman) Burgess (for further details see the sketch of Mr. Burgess). and was born in Racine County, Wis., in 1856, coming to Nebraska with her parents when about twelve years of age. Her parents provided her with the opportunity to obtain a good education in the common schools. which she took every advantage. There have come to the home of our subject and wife ten children, of whom, however, two are since deceased, viz,: Pearl and Ralph. Those still living are Willis, Lewis, Jean, Arthur, Chloe, Elsie, Walter and Ida. For several years our subject has been connected with various township and district offices, and is now Township and School Treasurer. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W. All his life he has been a stanch Republican, energetic in behalf of the party he admires. At the same time he is a politician only in the most exalted use of that word, and is identified with almost every good and honorable effort and project for the true progress and benefit of the community, and by his rectitude, manly character and strict business integrity, has won for himself and family the respect of all.
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ANIEL PENROD, an industrious and highly respected young carpenter of Beatrice, came to this county with his parents in the spring of 1880, and soon afterward began his apprenticeship at the trade which he is following, and of which he has now a thorough understanding in all its details. He was born in the town of Wooster, Wayne Co., Ohio, and is the third son and seventh child of Jacob and Sarah (Fouch) Penrod, whose family consisted of eight sons and five daughters, ten of whom lived to mature years. John Fouch, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany, and spent his last years in Pennsylvania, living to be nearly one hundred years old. He had followed farming mostly as one occupation, and as the result of a temperate life and correct habits, was hale and hearty as many a man of younger years. He walked to the house of worship, three miles from his home, the week before his death. Michael Pen-
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rod, the paternal grandfather, was of substantial German ancestry; he spent the last years of his life in Pennsylvania, also passing away when ripe in years. His son Jacob, the father of our subject, was born in Somerset County, Pa., where he was reared to manhood, receiving a common-school education. There also he was married, and settled for one year in Dale City, Pa., whence he removed at the expiration of this time to Wayne County, Ohio, where he secured a tract of land and carried on farming until coming to this State. The father of our subject, upon coming to this county, abandoned farming and took up his abode in McConnell's subdivision in West Beatrice, where he now lives retired from active labor. He was born in 1823. and is consequently sixty-five years of age. He votes the Democratic ticket, and is in the enjoyment of good health. The mother, who was born in 1829, departed this life in the spring of 1881, at Beatrice. The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days upon the farm of his father in the Buckeye State, attending the district school in winter and working around the homestead in the summer season. After coming to Beatrice he began his apprenticeship at the trade of carpenter, serving three years, and obtaining a thorough knowledge of the business. His enterprise and adaptability to his business are noticeable from the fact that he has purchased land and put up buildings for sale, having in this manner fitted p eight houses, and disposed of most of them at a figure which, while reasonable to the purchaser, has netted him a good profit. He is thus becoming one of the important factors in the business interests of this go-ahead town. The marriage of Mr. Penrod and Miss Selma R. Arpke was celebrated at the home of the bride in Jefferson County. Neb., Jan. 1, 1883. Mrs. Penrod is the daughter of Adolph and Caroline (Luhman) Arpke, who were natives of Germany, and came to America with their parents when children, and to Nebraska in 1880. Of this union there have been born two children--Carrie L. and Elsie S. They occupy a snug home in the western part of the city, on Court street, and are in the enjoyment of the friendship of a large circle of acquaintances. Mr. Penrod has but very little time to devote to political matters but maintains the interest which every intelligent man feels in the welfare and prosperity of his county and State. He uniformly votes the straight Republican ticket.
The possession of the above property by Mr. Endelman dates from 1881. At that time it was entirely unimproved, and in a state of nature. The change that has passed over it, the buildings that have been erected, the home that has been furnished, are the results of continued and earnest effort. Previous to becoming a resident of this State the home of Mr. Endelman was in Logan County, Ill., where for twelve years he had farmed on rented land. The ten years immediately preceding he had resided in Pekin, Tazewell Co., Ill., where he had been employed as a laborer. In Barum, Germany, and not far from the North Sea, our subject was born on the 15th of August, in the year 1824. His father, Harry Endelman, was a laborer throughout the whole of his life, and died in his native Province in 1888, aged ninety-five years. Upon arriving at the usual age he entered the German military service, and fought in the battle of Waterloo. The name of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Gertrude Cramer, who lived to be about seventy years of age. She was a lady of most lofty character, happy disposition and fair intelligence, and her added years simply increased her attractiveness. The old and young alike seemed to feel the refreshing, elevating and brightening influence that was inseparable from her presence, and upon her demise she was mourned as one most loving and lovable. As maiden, wife |
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EORGE ENDELMAN. Upon section 15, Lincoln Township, is one of the most fertile and best-improved farms in the entire township, and the farm dwelling thereon is one of the most substantially built and admirably arranged within quite a large territory. Upon entrance, one is instinctively led to remark the prevalence of a quiet elegance and harmony of taste that are most pleasing to the eye. It is the home and property of the subject of this sketch, one of the most enterprising and thoroughly practical of the German-American farmers of the district.
